OSWEGO COUNTY – The Sandy Creek Central School District is proudly sending its Comet Robotic Engineering (Co.R.E.) Team to Dallas, Texas, for the largest robotics competition in the world, the VEX Robotics World Championship.
Charles Worden, team mentor and district LAN technician, pointed out that this marks the sixth appearance at a world championship for the school’s robotics team since 2016. “Although they come from a relatively small school district, our exceptional students have proven year after year that they can hold their own and are a force to be reckoned with,” he said.
Presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, the VEX Robotics Competition is the largest and fastest growing middle and high school robotics program globally, with more than 20,000 teams from 50 countries playing in over 1,700 competitions worldwide. Notably, VEX robotics championships have garnered attention from prominent networks like ESPN.
Each year, participants are presented with an engineering challenge in the form of a game. Students are then tasked with designing, building and programming a working robot to play against other teams at local and statewide tournaments, hoping to place or receive a judged award to advance.
Co.R.E team members Skylar Clark, Hannah White, Simon Preston and Micah Burns secured their ticket to this year’s world championship by beating out 55 other teams for the coveted Design Award at the New York State VEX Competition in Queensbury. Remarkably, this was their fifth design award of the season.
John DeGone, the team’s coach and SCCS middle and high school technology teacher, expressed his admiration, stating, “To win a Design Award at one competition against 22-55 other teams is impressive, but to win five Design Awards in a single season is unprecedented.”
Teams vying for the Design Award must submit their engineer’s notebook for review and participate in a face-to-face interview with judges. The award is presented to a single team each tournament that demonstrates a professional approach to the design process, exceptional team organization, project and time management, and the ability to produce a quality robot with minimal adult assistance.
“It is truly amazing to watch a team of high-school students strategize, implement a plan and then build a working robot completely from scratch,” said DeGone, emphasizing why he continues to coach SCCS Co.R.E teams. “It has been an honor to coach Clark, White, Preston and Burns, who have all shown a consistent display of commitment, dedication and teamwork while continuing to exceed my expectations.”
SCCS Co.R.E headed to the world championship in late April. For more information visit their website at sandycreekcsd.org/robotics. For updates on their journey and to show your support, follow their Facebook page at facebook.com/core34000.
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